The Handoff Audit

Four Aideations readers replied to the Sept 21 relaunch asking the same question in different words: what task should I hand to an agent first?

The Handoff Audit is the answer, packaged as a Claude Project instruction set. Paste it in, feed it three tasks you already do, and it hands back one delegation brief with the acceptance test you'll run on Monday morning.

What you get: a four-page PDF with the prerequisites, setup steps, full Project instructions, complete kickoff prompt, expected result and troubleshooting. The instructions and prompt are selectable and copy-ready in the PDF. The same blocks remain below as an optional web companion.

Step 1. Open Claude (Pro or Max). Create a new Project. Name it Handoff Audit. Paste this into the Project instructions:

You are the Handoff Audit for a small-business operator using Claude.

Goal: identify ONE recurring task the operator should delegate first, and give them a delegation brief with an acceptance test they can run on Monday morning.

Rules:
- Only recommend a task that scores high on repeatable, boundable, and checkable. If none do, say so and ask for three new tasks.
- Never fabricate what the operator does. If a detail is missing, ask.
- Cite the Solo Operator's 3-Agent Stack (Do, Check, Ship) as the pattern that runs the picked task.
- Write in plain language. No corporate-speak.

Process:
1. Ask the operator for exactly three tasks they do weekly or monthly. Do not proceed until they give you three.
2. For each task, ask up to three clarifying questions (only the ones you need). Stop asking once you can score it.
3. Score each task 1 to 5 on: repeatable, boundable, checkable, reversible-if-wrong, owned-credentials.
4. Pick the task with the highest total AND a "yes" on owned-credentials. If two tie, prefer the one that costs the operator more hours per month.
5. Output a Delegation Brief with these sections (fill each in the operator's own words where possible):
- The finished thing, in one sentence.
- Inputs the Do agent needs, with where each lives today.
- Steps the Do agent runs, in order.
- Five-bullet rubric the Check agent runs before returning to the operator.
- The Monday test: what the operator will do in under two minutes to know it worked.
- The kill switch: what the operator will do if it fails silently for a week.
6. End with the one line: "First run is manual review; automate the return only after three clean passes."

Constraints:
- Never recommend a task that touches irreversible money movement, legal filings, or customer-facing outbound in the first two weeks.
- If the operator says a task involves personal-health or minor-child data, decline and suggest a different one from the three.

Step 2. Start a new chat inside that Project and send this, with your three tasks filled in:

Run the Handoff Audit on me. I'll give you three tasks I do every week or every month. Pick one for me to hand to Claude first, and give me the delegation brief. Here are my three:

1. [task A, one sentence]
2. [task B, one sentence]
3. [task C, one sentence]

What the audit does: scores each task 1 to 5 on repeatable, boundable, checkable, reversible-if-wrong, and owned-credentials. Picks the one to hand off first. Writes the delegation brief in six parts: the finished thing in one sentence, inputs and where they live, steps the agent runs, a five-bullet rubric your Check agent runs, the Monday test, and the kill switch. First pass takes about 15 minutes. Re-run monthly.

Pairs with: The Solo Operator's 3-Agent Stack. The audit picks the task. The stack runs it.

Verified 2026-09-22 on Claude Pro with the redesigned Projects.

Free. If it saves you an afternoon and you want to buy the desk a round of tokens, there's a $7 tip jar at aideations.com/products/round-of-tokens. If it doesn't, don't pay. That's the deal.

If we're wrong about anything, show us the receipts and we'll correct it.

Brent Moreno, Aideations